Chapter 63: Picking A Car

Simple did not mean easy, the written test was nothing to Zhang Lisheng. He passed the first time he took the test and obtained his learner’s permit after a day of memorizing. However, the road test that came, later on, was a torture to him who had never touched a car. He hired a driving coach who called himself a professional driving coach for rookies online and practiced with him for a total of four weeks. Finally, he passed after taking the road test for the third time.

What was lucky for him was that Christmas, the most important festival of the year in America was just around the corner when Zhang Lisheng obtained his driver’s license. Apart from food price in the market that was increasing, there were many items that were offered at insane discounts. Especially car dealers that wanted to fight for their annual sales, they reduced the price to the lowest, even secondhand car market was affected. It was the best time to buy a car.

It was December, negative degree celsius became the normal climate in New York. Zhang Lisheng who had been cultivating for the entire night looked at the window at his bedhead as he opened his eyes. There was a thick layer of white mist, then he immediately wiped the window clear and looked out. The weather was a little gloomy, but it was not raining nor snowing. Zhang Lisheng was relieved seeing that. He walked downstairs after putting his wizard worm away into his backpack and continued washing up.

Lili, Sullo and the rest were having breakfast together. Seeing Zhang Lisheng walking downstairs, they greeted him dearly.

“Hey Lisheng, you’re finally up. How do you feel on the first morning of owning a driver’s license? With a driver’s license, you would be considered as an adult in America. We’re discussing to get you a present to celebrate your adulthood. Judging by the fact that you’ve only obtained your driver’s license after taking the road test three times, we’ve concluded that we could share the cost to get you an insurance policy. Hope that you would like it,” Randy said while laughing as he ate meatloaf.

“Stop saying that, Randy. Lisheng took some effort to get his driver’s license, you should be congratulating him rather than teasing him,” Sullo put down the cutlery and said to Randy looking mad. He then turned his head to look at Zhang Lisheng and said while his expression sparked kindness, “Lisheng, are you sure that you don’t want me and your mother to accompany you while you pick a car? You should know that we might sponsor you a little if we’re there with you and if there happened to be some good car. That’ll be kinder to your budget.”

“Oh, that’s not fair, dad. If you were willing to sponsor me 500 dollars back then, I would be able to buy that 1999 Dodge and not driving the Volkswagen Rabbit that I have now. Do you know that I’ll need to find a girlfriend of smaller size because of that? Otherwise, the car can’t fit two people.”

“I think you should lose weight, son. I remember it was me and your Aunt Lili who paid 3,700 dollars in full for your Volkswagen Rabbit. Lisheng’s now getting a car with the money he made. As a brother who is two years older, you should feel ashamed of yourself instead of feeling imbalance.”

“Oh my dear dad, Lisheng didn’t make the money himself. It’s the inheritance his dad left behind. Don’t you think you could pay me some of your inheritance ahead so that I could get a new car?” Randy had extraordinary strength but he was simple-minded, just like a usual athlete would be. He said that in a hateful tone without filtering before he said it.

Hearing him saying such a thing, Sullo looked grim immediately and said in a deep voice, “Perhaps I should change your Volkswagen Rabbit into a bicycle. Maybe by then, you would know how to talk to your family, Randy.”

“Don’t say that, darling. Randy didn’t mean it,” Lili who looked rather gloomy held her lover’s hand on the dining table and spoke softly, “It’s Christmas a few days later, we shouldn’t be mad at the kids during this season.”

Sullo suppressed his rage and said madly, “Lili, I’m not mad just because Randy said something wrong today. Speaking of Christmas holiday, look at his result this semester. Even if his goal is to be a professional athlete, it’s ridiculous that he can’t make a sentence with ten words!”

“Stop it, Randy will put in more effort in his study. Am I right, Randy?”

“Of course Aunt Lili, of course. Don’t worry dad, I’ll work harder next time,” Randy who noticed something was wrong, said while nodding immediately.

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“Don’t just say it, you need to take action. I’ll promise this to you on behalf of your dad, we’ll buy you a less than five-year-old Dodge if you get into college next year.”

“Oh, oh,s oh, Aunt Lili, you’re just too great,” Randy lost his careful stance earlier and stood up immediately while throwing his fists in the air cheering. After all, blood was thicker than water. In reality, Sullo did not hate Randy’s reckless attitude that was very similar to him when he was young. The rage he had vanished seeing his son’s excitement that he could not hide. Sullo spoke into Lili’s ear forcing a smile, “Lili, you’re spoiling him,” He sat up straight and slammed the table in a strict manner, then said while raising his voice, “Randy, don’t be excited just yet. Your Dodge’s still hanging in the air, it’s not easy to get into college. Your football skill’s not up to standard, to the point that a college would accept you, despite the fact that you can’t even make a sentence.”

“Don’t worry dad, going to college isn’t a problem as long as I work hard,” Randy stopped eating breakfast as he spoke and walked away from the dining table in big steps. He then walked upstairs. As he passed Zhang Lisheng by, he patted his shoulder, “Hey brother, I planned to pick a car for you today, but it seems like I must go back to my room to study. Actually, if you don’t mind, you don’t have to buy a car just yet if you can wait for half a year. I’ll give you my Volkswagen Rabbit when I got my Dodge. Believe me, it’s a dashing rabbit on the road since I modified it.”

“Thanks for your kindness brother but it’s alright. I’ve said since the beginning that I’ll go on my own. You can give your Volkswagen Rabbit to Harry.”

“Hey, I’m not like those brats on the road that would make noise and drift around spitting black smoke. I’ve been saving, I’ll get myself a new car when I’m 16,” Harry who was sitting aside smirked, while speaking. Randy could not threaten his brother in front of his parents. All that he could do was to shrug while looking troubled and made a ‘shush’ gesture, “Kid, you’re only 14, you don’t know anything about cars,” He then walked upstairs.

After he left, Zhang Lisheng spoke subsequently, “Mom, Uncle Lavin, I’m going to pick a car. Goodbye,” He went out of the house without waiting for Lili to respond. There were black markets and regular stores dealing with secondhand cars in New York. Naturally, Zhang Lisheng went for the latter. He hailed a yellow cab as he walked to the main road and arrived at the biggest secondhand car dealer in Brooklyn, Starting Again Car Dealership.

Apart from the transparent glass house in the middle that seemed like the office building, there were empty spaces in the store. Various secondhand cars were waiting to be sold at the open-air space arranged by price.

The cold weather did not stop the customers from the temptation of discount. Many parents were with their kids who had turned 16, at some secondhand cars at the lot. They did not stop pointing and bargaining for more discounts with the sales representative. Naturally, there were working adults who hoped to seize the discount period to get themselves a secondhand car, was walking around the lot.

Zhang Lisheng who dressed in an inconspicuous, but warm black jacket and clunky leather shoes did not attract any sales representatives at all when he appeared in Starting Again Car Dealership. Most young people who came here alone as he did was mostly to window shop, instead of spending. Zhang Lisheng who nobody bothered walked the entire lot and a big SUV gained his attention.

He had no idea how big exactly would his second wizard worm would be after it was refined. In less than a month, his LS Slaughterhouse made close to 30,000 dollars profit after tax. He had now expanded his budget in getting a car and targeting on an SUV. Unfortunately, although he studied a little bit about cars before coming here, he still knew nothing about them. Hence, he was not sure which one he should get.

At that moment, a gloomy middle-aged man who wore a cheap suit happened to see Zhang Lisheng looking lost as he turned around in grim after failing to get the customer to buy anything. He asked casually, “Hey are you looking for a car, little fella?”

“Yes sir, I’ve just gotten my driver’s license and I’m thinking of getting a secondhand SUV that’s been released for less than three years. It’s okay if it’s a little expensive.”

“Oh, is that so,” The middle-aged man smiled without noticing, seeing the young man who was serious. He pointed to the glass showroom in the middle of the lot and said casually, “We don’t showcase those exclusive secondhand cars in the open-air lot. Let’s take a look at the glass house, I remember there’s a Ford Explorer that’s been out for a year and a half selling at 45,000 dollars. It fits your requirement.”

“Thanks,” Zhang Lisheng thanked him and exhaled into his palms as he walked to the glass showroom far away.

“Pretentious kid,” The middle-aged man mumbled as he watched Zhang Lisheng walking further away. He then proceeded to look for a potential customer in the chilly wind. Some ten minutes later, the middle-aged man who failed in convincing the customers happened to see a 7-seater Ford Explorer that looked brand new driving out of the glass showroom, as he looked around in gloom. The car was driving to the entrance slowly. The SUV stopped suddenly as it was going out, a young man who was barely managing the steering wheel shouted after winding down the window slowly, “Thanks for your recommendation sir, bye.”